From the course: Creating a Short Film: 02 Writing

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Understanding the cost of what you write

Understanding the cost of what you write

From the course: Creating a Short Film: 02 Writing

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Understanding the cost of what you write

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- When writers write plays, or books, songs, poems, there's not really that much of an impact to the cost of the piece as they add more material. And sometimes new screenwriters approach screenplays like this. But, it's crucial to understand that every word, and every scene, and every prop, and scenario that you're writing will cost money to make. So, one of the most foundational tenets of screenwriting is to be as economical as possible. As a general rule, every page of your script will translate to about one minute of screen time. That means that if you had just a couple of pages of your script that were just kind of fun, maybe didn't really contribute to the story, that's gonna be two pages that have to get filmed, including all the attendant production costs. You'll have to hire cast, crew, locations, and then all of those two pages have to be edited, and it has to be colored, scored with music, sound designed, and so forth. So, every word you write will cost money. Every scene…

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